I was in the coffee shop sipping on my Carmel Macchiato, sitting and enjoying the beautiful morning, and wondering -‘why so I do this’? What compels me to buy this drink? I know every one of the ingredients in this drink is not good for me. As I had stood in line earlier, getting ready to order, I had said to myself ‘today I’ll get a tea instead’. So, why do I open my mouth and say “one tall Carmel Macchiato, no foam, with whole milk please”. It’s as if I’ve been programmed. Is it an addiction or simply no will-power? Ugh. I just did it again. But, it tastes great! Do they put something in the drink to get me hooked? Is this just a glimpse of what an addict must go through? What’s worse, and bothers me most, is that I always feel yucky afterwards! I had dropped this habit a while ago, noticed I consistently felt better drinking water and tea (which I love BTW). But, I went back to the CM a couple of weeks ago, I ordered one, then another the next day, and then a couple days after that – and felt the pull again – and I’ve been feeling the difference, physically -though not major, it’s noticeable not good.

Why do I do it?

Sitting for an hour working on a different article for my blog, the questions were still bugging me. I’m only ¼ of the way done with my drink (I savor it slowly) and I needed to pack up and go meet a friend. As I brought my drink in with me to her house, I jokingly (and seriously) asked her what she thought about it. I brought up how I am aware that I feel a bit sluggish, actually somewhat tired, less focused or aware, and bloated when I drink this. If you take all the ingredients and break them apart, I know that each one of them is not good for me. First, there is the espresso. What’s so silly is that I really don’t like the taste of coffee (at all) and the caffeine in coffee seems to bother me (whereas I generally don’t have any issues with caffeinated tea)… and yet, the espresso may be the best ingredient in the whole drink. Then , the caramel sauce and vanilla syrup which is mostly sugar, and artificial flavors (need I say more… as I know and talked about in a previous post about sweeteners). And, lastly, the milk – I simply don’t buy homogenized, pasteurized milk. I buy raw milk to make my kefir and yogurt. More on raw milk another post, but basically, the milk in the CM bothers me. Yet, when all the ingredients are combined together, I enjoy the taste and the ‘experience’. And, now that I broke it all down and wrote this up, I’m saying ‘YUK’ to myself.

Ceremony

So what is it? As we were joking around about this bad habit of mine (yes, I have other bad habits too) she said to me ‘replace it’. She knew of a recovered addict and one of the first suggestions to that person was to ‘replace the addiction with something else you enjoy’. I told her that it’s not just the drink, it’s the experience of sitting there and sipping on something while I’m away from home. She searched in her cupboard and found this beautiful glass tea contraption. I had never seen anything like it (okay I lead a sheltered life… actually I really don’t like window shopping). It’s a glass drinking vessel that honestly reminded me (because of the picture on the front of the box) of a salt water aquarium with the soothing colors and flowing plants. After reading the box, it’s a tea tumbler (… especially as a tea drinker this is funny to me that I had never seen one of these). Okay, though I really don’t want sea water plants in my tea, the little tea ball that ‘opened up’ that was on the picture of the box was so relaxing and entrancing. I don’t know how to describe it – I simply felt calm and at ease. The friend that she is, she handed it to me to give a try, with one of the beautiful little tea balls, so I could make my own whimsical wonderland and see if I could kick my (to me, disturbing) habit – and maybe create a new one that would be more beneficial). She called it a “ceremony”. I had to change my ceremony. I actually love tea, I’ve always loved tea, yet I was bored of it for some reason. And, I didn’t like the selection anymore at the coffee shop. I really have never been a coffee drinker, and that’s why this whole CM drink experience had been so upsetting for me, aside from making me feel yucky.

Written more than a month later…

I’ve been using my (my friend’s) tea tumbler and I love it (I really should return it). I’m happily on my way to making it my new addiction, and feeling better both mentally and physically because I’m not drinking that drink…. I’ve only had one CM in 1 1/2 months. Yeah! And, I’m feel better when I drink tea (and not using the disposable cups).  I take my tumbler to the coffee shop and buy their tea and enjoy my new ceremony.  So, my challenge to you – question if there is anything that you do that bothers you or doesn’t make you feel as vibrant as you could be. Is there anything you can think of that you can replace it with? It could be food, drink or a habit of how you respond to someone. It could be a habit of not finishing a project completely, taking a daily walk, or getting your grocery shopping done a day ahead of time so you are not rushed. Whatever it may be, hopefully we are always on a journey of making a healthier, happier lives for ourselves and those we care about. Change can require desire, challenge and thought, action and love. And, sometimes, we just need a simple push to get us started… like being introduced to the glass tumbler to feel excited about getting started. I hope this inspires you to create a new ceremony.

And, be sure to check out my Giveaway to celebrate Earth Day

at https://www.livinghealthynhappy.com/earth-day-giveaway/ (entries until May 12th)… especially fun for those looking to create a new drinking ceremony, like me.

Wishing you health and happiness!

COMMENTS Your thoughts? Any habits you’d like to share or Tea Tumblers that you Love? COMMENT section is at the bottom of the page.

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photo credits: all – Judy@LHNH,
disclosure: cmp.ly/4 and cmp.ly/5

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